Although the movement has largely flown under media radar, John Paul faces a growing conservative opposition to this embrace of
liberalism, understood in the classic sense.

–I wish the Pope were right,” said Catholic thinker Robert
Kraynak of Colgate University, –but I don�t think it�s working out the way he expected. Human rights are not being used to serve the whole truth
about God and man, despite the Pope�s continuous reminders.”

Who are these critics? In addition to Kraynak, they include influential Anglo-Saxon Catholic intellectuals such as Alasdair MacIntyre, David Schindler, and Tracey Rowland, whose works are fast becoming required reading in conservative Catholic
circles, even if they represent, for now, a minority view. Most Anglo-Saxon Catholics, as creatures of Western culture, tend to take its compatibility
with their religious beliefs for granted. [...]

--Pronouncements of a hierarchically structured church grounded in divine revelation take precedence over individual conscience.

--Original sin implies distrust of weak and fallible human beings.

--The common good must come before individuals.

--Charity and sacrificial love are higher goods than the potentially selfish assertion of rights.

Some of these thinkers believe the concept of human rights can be –redeemed” by giving it a Christian content, which is John Paul�s project. Others, such as Kraynak and MacIntyre,
believe it would be better to abandon the language of –rights” altogether. [...]

I reached Kraynak by telephone at Colgate to discuss this negative judgment about Western, especially American, culture.

–I share that to a large degree,” Kraynak said. –The whole Enlightenment underlay is the problem.”

Kraynak argued, in fact, that the sexual abuse scandals in the American Church have their roots here.

–I trace the scandals to the corrosive effect of American culture on the Church,” Kraynak said. –It started with the sexual revolution, plus the
unwillingness of the hierarchy to assert its authority in the proper way. They more or less concluded that we share with liberalism a concern for social
justice, so sexual ethics aren�t so important.” [...]

–They are keenly aware of the tensions between Catholicism and American culture, but they are in a minority, as far as I can tell.”

Obviously many Catholics would have reservations about the way Kraynak sizes things up, but he represents an important current of opinion, raising
serious questions about the spiritual and moral dangers of consumer culture. This is a familiar discourse from the left; what is intriguing about this
movement is that its energy and center of gravity is on the right, seeking to combine doctrinal orthodoxy with a strong counter-cultural
impulse.